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Nitromethane |
R. W. Stuart Nitromethane is an additive found in most modern methanol based glow engine fuels- along with both castor and synthetic oils, If you mix your own fuel you will be dealing with pure nitro and should be aware of some of its properties. Nitromethane chemically is CH3NO2. As a fuel enhancer nitro adds a combustible chemical which contains available oxygen and thereby provides oxygen in excess of that which can be induced through the carburetor which means more horsepower. Reasonable sport fuels contain 10% or so nitro. A typical home brew 4 cycle fuel might be 10% nitro, 20% oil of which half is pure Klotz or other synthetic and half is castor, and 70% methanol. Klotz Corp. packages nitro in gallon cans which cost $25 to $30 and may be available from some hobby houses. It must be shipped in special packages because of its combustible and explosive nature. UPS will deliver if it is properly packaged. Nitromethane is a very active solvent for some painted surfaces and is one of the very few solvents for the CA type adhesives. Prolonged liquid nitro exposure to the skin and vapor nitro exposure to the lungs is dangerous and the vapor is explosive. The OSHA vapor limit is 100 ppm over an eight hour period. Storage of nitro is a problem. Once opened the metal gallon cans seem to deteriorate from the inside. Storage in glass seems to be ok if the bottles are protected from breakage. Storage in plastic is questionable- for instance if the one liter pop bottles are used, they will shrink about 12% in all dimensions ( height and diameter ) resulting in loss of nitro and discoloration of the nitro- which can not be good!! The resulting bottles look like shrunken heads. |
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